Katchy Plug-in Insect Trap

7 days later update: flies are nearly gone in the house! We think we found the source in my son’s room so I’m sure that had a lot to do with it, but catching fewer every day and hardly any flying around. Been running on auto mode only last 3 days. The Duo came with 4 traps which I was changing daily until the last one I left until today. Their replacements said product size 4.3 inches on the listing so those the replacements I bought, but they are too big. IMO their replacement glue traps are too expensive - looks like they are actually 3.4”. I just cut down the larger ones since I already had one, and I also have the yellow butterfly shaped ones for houseplants I saw others use before I get more. I did try without soap in the bait cup and noticed specks of wine on the top of the bait cup - wondering if that’s from little fly feet dipping in and landing when it’s off so I went back to using soap. Does work slightly better putting the bait cup on after filling and then putting on the lid but it spins a little. You have to really press and twist to get it on but the sides are high enough that it seems hard to spill anyway. Overall still very happy with the purchase and glad we got in white to stay out in our kitchen.Original: Overall, I’m satisfied with this purchase. I was skeptical of some of the others I looked at - one was more expensive and had a ton of reviews that were all 5 stars so I was skeptical and skipped that one. Others didn’t have the bait cup, auto mode, and/or only came in black. I also wanted one with a more universal size and shape for the sticky traps so I wasn’t limited to more expensive replacements.We are dealing with fruit flies that probably came in with the garden vegetables over the summer and recently multiplied with kids leaving dishes and cans in their bedrooms.We started about 5 days ago putting bowls out with apple cider vinegar and some dawn dish soap. They were definitely attracted to them, but there was a disappointing number of fruit flies around the edges of the bowls and on the cabinets and lamps nearby instead of in the liquid. Dumping them out the next morning we got more than I expected, but seeing some around the edges creeped me out so I got this and it came the next day.I like that this one has the bait cup so you have more than just the light to attract them. Others I looked at said to put a capful of vinegar next to the device to attract them but I question how it would trap them if it’s on the counter at base level when the fan and suction are at the top.This arrived in the middle of the day so I immediately filled the bait cup with some old Christmas wine and dawn dish soap (not sure it has to be dawn, that’s just what we had). By 5pm there was a satisfying number of fruit flies on the sticky trap. We turned off the lights and put it in auto mode in the kitchen overnight - I don’t think we got many more than we had already. I changed the trap and by the afternoon it was about as full as the day prior. Not like I counted them so there may have been more, but makes me think that even though the trap wasn’t full, there’s a limit to either the effectiveness of the sticky trap or the bait. I refreshed both today.We’ve used this product for 2 nights now and the fruit flies are noticeably and significantly reduced. While I doubt that this device is solely responsible, I think it’s better than watching them on the edges of the bowls and not going in. It was satisfying to see one of the edge of the light I went to squish and when it tried to take off it got sucked into the fan.It’s not 100% perfect but still giving 5 stars because I feel it’s better than the comparable options I was looking at. Most are black and I wanted white for our kitchen - I have a garden and plants and we plan to leave this on auto mode to use nightly on a regular basis.I also chose it for the bait cup - seeing how crazy they went for the apple cider vinegar and wine we tried in the bowls we wanted to keep using that.It came with only a handful of traps and this brand’s replacements appear to be expensive. They say they last long but I’m changing daily right now while we are dealing with the problem. As there gets to be fewer caught, I can see going longer between but probably not months. I bought another brand’s 4.3 round traps - there are a lot of inexpensive options. I haven’t used yet but appear they will work. There was another device like the katchy I looked at that had a triangular base and I didn’t see as many options for replacements so I avoided that one.I wish the lip to pull out the sticky trap tray was a little taller - it’s low to the counter so you have to tip the device back a bit to get under it and pull it out - makes me worried I’ll spill the bait cup that sits on top but haven’t yet, just have to be careful not to tip too much.When pulling out the sticky trap, some fruit flies flew out of the base so they aren’t getting 100% driven into the trap and stuck. When I turn on the Kitchen lights in the morning, I am switching it to manual mode to keep the fan going while we deal with the problem.While I think it only catches a little bit more than the bowls we were using, we aren’t seeing the significant number of flies nearby hanging out. That could be just because the numbers are being reduced after several days of working at this, but it’s nice to see. The fan definitely sucks them down when they get close so there aren’t many nearby.I had read one review that the bait cup is a little difficult to open and close, and I agree. There are three little internal tabs. You have to press on the lid and sort of twist to get it to stay. The bait cup itself is small - it says to only put a tablespoon of liquid in there. What’s nice is that the lid has holes, so nothing is getting in the cup. The dish soap created a bubble on top when I took off the lid - my understanding, the dish soap is to break the surface tension on the liquid so the bugs can’t get out. Not sure what the point is of using the soap if the holes are so small the bugs can’t get in so I may stop using the soap.Yesterday I left the bait cup on the device and just removed the lid to top off the wine in and I spilled a couple drops on the fan. Didn’t seem to be a huge deal so I just left it but there’s always a worry about liquids and electronics. This morning I took the bait cup off to dump and rinse and then refilled on the counter. The best way to get the lid on and off is to pick it up and hold the cup in one hand and the lid and the other and twist together, but you don’t want to do that when it’s full. Because the bait cup is tapered and not very tall, and the edge of the lid is very short, it’s harder to get a grip to hold the cup still so you can put the required pressure on the lid to twist it. When we first got this, it seemed like you had to rock the bait cup to get it seated, but now it’s more of a firm press straight down. I think I’ll take it off to rinse and fill it, and then put the bait cup back on the device so it’s holding the cup in place while i put on the lid.The wine I’m using is red and it doesn’t appear to be staining the white plastic, even where I spilled it. Even if it does, it’s not seen from the outside.Auto mode works very well - comes on instantly with low light. I like that you can adjust both the fan and light levels.I don’t think this device will solve the problem by itself, but any pest probably you have to attack with multiple approaches. We made the kids deep clean their rooms, put sticky traps in the house plants (although they don’t seem to be around them), and we aren’t leaving fruit on the counter right now. Hasn’t been a week yet but the numbers are going down each day and hopefully the issue won’t be noticeable in a few more days. We will probably keep using this on auto mode in the kitchen nightly as preventive maintenance - it’s also supposed to work on mosquitos which we get in the kitchen as it’s right near our main entrance and has 2 other doors to outside we use in the summer.

I purchased a scratchNdent and found my item had been used and slightly damaged, the top swirl grill was missing a small piece, and one of the sticky disks had been put into the unit already with a gnat stuck to it. Okay. I plugged it in, pushed one of the setting buttons (standard) and the light came on and the little fan makes a little bit of breeze, but wet a finger and hold it at the bottom and it is breezing out.It is also bigger than I expected, but I have such a tiny bug issue in this place, I don't care as long as it works. Something was mentioned about it works better in lower light levels. So. I plugged it in and set it up in a place I have been having issues. Four hours later, I pick it up to look down in. There's a lot more than one gnat on the mat already. It's doing the job. Great.The local little winged wildlife has resisted: letting the pots dry out good between waterings, watering with a mix of hydrogen peroxide and water, top mulching the pots, and the yellow sticky trap things. This seems to be vacuuming them up. YAY! If this works out I will get a couple more as I have plants in a few areas in my house.Trust me, I have at least six different microbugs including fruit flies, fungus gnats (arrgh!), a different gnat, and not sure exactly but a few are like tiny tiny various sorts of beetles... keeping the swarms down would be wonderful, without killing my plants. I will update this as it goes..The picture isn't quite truelight because it is fairly dark in there, but. That's what it sorta looks like ON in the dark. To the right that is a matte BLACK surface that it's reflecting off of.Edit: my house is large, my buggie collection is way down on one end of the house where I have my first one, but. I just got a second one, also scratchNdent, to deal with the other end.I seen where someone complained that it is a fly-spa. This will NOT work on houseflies. They are too big and strong to be whooshed down onto the sticky pad. There are other ones built ($60-80) as wall sconces that WILL do the houseflies. This isn't built for that.However all the assorted little gnats and such are collecting at alarming rates on my sticky pads. It is nice to sit at my computer in the evening and not kill at least a dozen tiny assorted buggies. And my fungus gnat problem that came in with some potting soil mix, is pretty much gone.I can't say enough, if you have a grow booth and issues with little critters, that putting one of these in the booth at about two weeks for a night will not affect your grow and if there is anything in there it will clear out most of the problems. I have one room where the booth and most of my houseplants live (plus my spring starts as I go into that season as I update this) and the first one is outside the grow booth on the floor where it clearsthat room pretty well.Second one installed near the kitchen sink and other bathroom on other end of house, as there is a persistent problem there. I don't think it will catch sewer flies but those tend to respond to hot vinegar flushed through a running disposal with hot sink water, then follow with a cut up lemon and some icecubes run through the disposer. I will let you know if I get those little buggers back and if it can catch one or not.On both I am turning them off during the day and on after dark, as that is when the UV light seems to be the most visible to the little winged pests. I also want to see if the kitchen one will draw spiders. There are a few kinds that are drawn to dead prey, and though I have sticky traps for them, if this will be able to stick one down or not if it comes to check it out. Another thing I will update.Edit update. Plant area one is catching mostly gnats, vatloads of them. Kitchen has only a few, but is getting the fruit flies from the bananas. I put spider traps near both and the kitchen catch is up. Could not be happier with both Katchys. Have spring bedding and flower starts going and a new grow in the tent. I’ve put one in the tent a few times and no gnattie problem (last time will be day/ night 18 so as not to mess up auto blooming). No chemicals. Still worth the price. Replacing the sticky pads is super easy too.Edit: very late fall. We are the house servants of two mixed breed part Persian purries. The grey and white one in particular has very fine hair and a very full coat despite daily brushing/grooming. So we have slightly pre-used fur all over. Plus lots of house dust-joys of where we live. I have to take a q-tip to the top of both my Katchy’s weekly to keep the house glorp from obstructing airflow (also have to do it to our tower fans). Still catching the tiniest no-see-ums, fungus gnats and fruit flies. With fall garden harvest, the fruit flies moved in. I added a capful of apple cider taped off with a few holes next to the kitchen one, and it was literally carpeted with fruit flies in the bottom. The plants that came in brought micro buggies, and those numbers are quickly dropping as well.A Katchy doesn’t instantly get your population but in days you should have a disgusting collection on the bottom pad… I purchased a no- zap UV/sticky pad catcher meant for houseflies and installed over the toilet at the ceiling. It also does the job with a little time. So. Katchy do their job well, are easy to use and maintain, and paired with a true flycatcher, really helps keep you unbothered. $40 well spent.